What Goes Around
by IWalkBlindlyIntoTheShadows
Summary: What goes around comes around. Blossompetal left a helpless kit to die because it was not of WindClan blood. Now a war between WindClan and ThunderClan breaks out and she finds herself to blame. However, she learns the pain of a mother as StarClan makes up for the life of the kit that she let slip away. Exactly 750 words. (StormClan challenge)


Blossompetal was a proud mother. Every cat in WindClan knew that. Ever since Nettlekit and Hollowkit were born, she'd dote on them. Maybe it was because their father was Jaystar, maybe because this was her first litter. No one knew the reason. When they became Nettlepaw and Hollowpaw, she still doted on them, proud of her two handsome sons. As she went out hunting, she was swelling with pride over her sons. So much so that she almost didn't hear the cries for help. She turned her pale brown head to see a kit on ThunderClan's side of the border. It was a very small, weak looking cream and white tom running from a full grown fox. Just knowing the kit was from ThunderClan made her grimace.

_Why should _I _have worry about their kits? They're not my brave Nettlepaw or my sweet Hollowpaw. _So she padded away, just as the fox caught the kit. She stopped for a moment, swearing she saw the green eyes of ThunderClan's deputy Fernwillow, but shrugged it off. The next day Quickstar came over, Fernwillow on one side and a heart-broken queen on the other.

"Jaystar, we are declaring war on WindClan." She heard the black tom hiss. The gray tabby was taken aback.

"Why?" He hissed.

"Because," Fernwillow spoke up, fur ruffling. "yesterday I saw a warrior of yours abandon a ThunderClan kit when she was able and close enough to save him after he was stolen from our camp."

Blossompetal repressed a snarl when the deputy sent a glare her way. However, to her surprise, Fernwillow never said it had been her who had done it.

"Very well. If it's a war you want, Quickstar, it's a war you'll get."

The days passed slowly since then. When Blossompetal wasn't fighting or hunting, she found herself worried over her sons.

_They're strong, they'll make it. _She assured herself. So the battles raged on. She forgot her worries and became concerned on making the soft ThunderClan warriors learn their place and that WindClan was not to be messed with. One battle she was fighting Fernwillow herself, the deputy's eyes ablaze with anger. She knew that the gray tabby knew what she had done now, because any battles with both in it, Fernwillow went straight for her. This particular battle Blossompetal had been weakened by hunger, for the fighting scared off a lot of the prey.

"You will pay for what you've done. You will pay for what you let happen to Birdkit." She hissed behind her yellowish teeth. The light brown queen pounced, but was easily batted away. Fernwillow attacked again and Blossompetal's head hit a tree.

"Mother!" Nettlepaw's words rang in her head right as she blacked out.

* * *

"My head..." Those were the first words out of her mouth as she caught the familiar scent of Nightberry's herbs. The graying black tom looked surprised as she opened her eyes and looked towards him. The elderly tom was quick to stop her from getting up.

"You must stay down for a bit." His raspy voice cracked with age. "You've been out for two days."

"Two days?" Blossompetal was more then alarmed to hear that.

"Yes. I was afraid you hit your head too hard and was going to leave us like-"

"Like who?" She wanted to know why the medicine cat cut himself off.

"It's not my place to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"I'll go fetch Jaystar." With golden-eyed tom was quick to leave the den. He returned moments later with the long-bodied leader. Jaystar looked relieved to see her and pressed his muzzle against her cheek.

"Thank StarClan you're alive."

"What happened why I was out?" She asked, momentarily pulling away from her mate. Jaystar's icy-blue eyes grew sober as he looked away from his mate's eyes and down to the ground.

"We lost..." He took a deep breath, trying to gather the words. "We lost Nettlepa-_strike_. He... He died trying to get Fernwillow away from you. I don't think she meant to. She even convinced Quickstar to call off the war soon after. Hollowpaw didn't make it either. He died just yesterday. He didn't tell Nightberry of Tall-leaf about his wounds and he died in the apprentice's den."

Blossompetal buried her head and sobbed.

_This is all my fault..._


End file.
